Andrew Cuomo, co-chair of OKXICE and former New York governor, stated that objections from major U.S. companies to the joint venture’s planned tokenized stock trading platform constitute an expected reaction to a new market structure.
The comments came after an updated public notice dated October 19 showed that 16 issuers had formally objected to having tokenized versions of their shares offered on the venue.
The seven companies newly added to the objection list are Microsoft, Alphabet, Goldman Sachs, Qualcomm, Caterpillar, McDonald’s, and Western Digital.
They join nine earlier objectors that include Broadcom, Verizon, UnitedHealth Group, CoreWeave, AppLovin, Applied Digital, Rocket Lab, Applied Optoelectronics, and Cerebras Systems.
The total represents approximately one-quarter of the 62 companies (63 tickers, counting Alphabet’s two classes) originally identified for potential inclusion when OKXICE first published its plans in early October.
Cerebras was not part of that initial proposed roster.
Cuomo described the objections as “a very natural response” during a Tuesday press call.
He explained that the model was specifically designed to give companies the choice of whether to participate or decline.
Given the scale of the proposed shift to continuous blockchain-based equity trading, many issuers were anticipated to prefer a wait-and-see approach rather than join at the outset.
He has previously framed the initiative as an initial step toward wider tokenization of securities.
OKXICE is a joint venture between crypto exchange OKX and Intercontinental Exchange, parent of the New York Stock Exchange.
It intends to operate under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s five-year Innovation Exemption issued in mid-September.
The framework permits qualifying venues to support trading of tokenized National Market System stocks through automated market makers and liquidity pools, subject to conditions that include volume limits and the right of issuers to object within 30 days of notice.
The planned venue would enable round-the-clock trading via permissioned Uniswap v4 liquidity pools on OKX’s XLayer blockchain.
Each token would be backed by an underlying share held at a registered broker-dealer, carrying equivalent dividend and voting rights, with settlement in stablecoins including USDC, USDT, and USDG.
The accumulating objections highlight ongoing questions among issuers and market participants regarding pricing mechanics, liquidity, investor protections, custody, and the interplay between traditional exchanges and on-chain venues.
Some companies have expressed uncertainty about effects on share prices and volatility, along with the risk that appearance on the platform could be misread as an endorsement.
Most of the originally proposed names, including Nvidia and Tesla, have not filed objections. The pattern of notices demonstrates that issuer consent functions as a practical limit even within a regulatory sandbox created to test blockchain equity trading while maintaining safeguards for companies and investors.
